This invention relates generally to housing assemblies for electrical apparatus, and, more particularly, to housings which protect television surveillance equipment.
Housing assemblies have been used in the prior art to isolate remote surveillance cameras and other electrical equipment from environmental conditions such as heat, dust and moisture, as well as providing protection from theft, tampering and other physical disturbances which may be encountered with exposed electronic equipment.
One of the problems associated with designing such housing assemblies is providing for rapid access to the equipment inside of them for servicing, adjustment or connection of external devices. Housing assemblies of the prior art generally are provided with either hinged or removable covers which may be quickly unfastened to expose the interior compartment of the housing assembly. While the hinged covers provide a convenient method of access for performing minor repairs to equipment within a housing assembly without removing and setting aside the cover, present hinging systems do not facilitate repairs that require access to the side of the equipment nearest the hinges, as this side is generally blocked by the cover. It would therefore be desirable for a housing assembly to have a cover hinging system which provides increased access to the equipment for "in situ" adjustments and repairs while still permitting rapid removal of the cover for more extensive servicing. Such a housing assembly would preferably include a locking mechanism to guard against theft and to prevent unauthorized personnel from tampering with the equipment.
As harsh environmental conditions are a frequent cause of electrical malfunctioning, it is imperative that a housing assembly provide protection against any such conditions that are likely to be encountered in normal use. Extremes of heat and cold may hinder the performance of semiconductors used in electrical equipment, and airborne contaminants such as heat and moisture create shortcircuiting hazards if allowed to come in contact with any current carrying surfaces inside the equipment. Airborne contaminants create a further problem when optical equipment is encased in a housing assembly, since the camera lens and the window through which it receives images must be kept clean in order to assure a clear picture. The solution of these and other environmentally related problems with a minimum of cost and complexity would provide greatly increased flexibility in the development of remote electronic surveillance systems.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved housing assembly for remote electronic surveillance equipment or the like;
It is specifically an object to provide such a housing assembly with an improved system for latching and hinging a housing cover;
It is a further object to provide such a latching and hinging system with an integral locking means to prevent unauthorized access to the interior of the housing assembly;
It is another object to provide a housing assembly for electronic surveillance equipment which isolates such equipment from its surrounding environment.